<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>who's taylor swift anyway? ew by fangirlingbooknerd</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646559">who's taylor swift anyway? ew</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlingbooknerd/pseuds/fangirlingbooknerd'>fangirlingbooknerd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>90s boys, 2000s music [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Taylor Swift - Freeform, This is pure fluff, chapter one is about alex, chapter three is about luke, chapter two is about reggie, julie centric, pure fluff, surprise theres an epilogue now, the juke stuff will be at the end im warning yall now</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:34:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,297</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26646559</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlingbooknerd/pseuds/fangirlingbooknerd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Julie is a secret swifite. Taylor got a record deal in high school, something that Julie has been dreaming of as long as she can remember. When Alex catches her listening to Taylor's music, she realizes that the boys would probably all love different aspects of Taylor. So she introduces her to them separately, starting with some pop stuff for Alex, some country stuff for Reggie, and some of her most respected stuff for Luke. </p><p>(inspired by a tumblr post)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex &amp; Julie Molina, Alex &amp; Julie Molina &amp; Luke Patterson &amp; Reggie, Julie Molina &amp; Reggie, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>90s boys, 2000s music [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1944169</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>85</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>408</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Kelly's Picks</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Alex</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Julie was a secret swiftie. She knew it wasn’t “cool” to like Taylor Swift, but the girl was honestly her inspiration. Taylor wrote all her own songs AND had a record deal before she even finished high school, the same exact thing that Julie is trying to do right now. Sure, not all of Taylor’s songs were great, but Julie loved the way she was able to tackle so many different styles of music. Julie would never tell anyone, but sometimes when Carrie said something particularly nasty, she would put in her headphones and BLAST “Shake It Off.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Back when Carrie was still friends with Julie and Flynn, the three girls would have dance parties around Carrie’s house to Taylor Swift. It was no secret that Carrie’s dream was to attend one of her famous Fourth of July parties. The day that Katy Perry and Taylor Swift made up was probably the happiest day of Carrie’s life. Hard to believe that just after those two got over their bad blood, Carrie would split from Julie and Flynn. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Her friend breakup didn’t bother her too much anymore, but there was something so satisfying about screaming “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things.” That’s exactly what Alex found her doing one day. He popped in to remind her of band practice, but Julie was deep in the zone. “And heeeeere’s to you, cause forgiveness is a nice thing to dooo…. AHAHAHAHAH I can’t even say it with a straight face!!!” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Uh, Julie? It’s time for band practice,” Alex said, breaking her out of her trance. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Julie jumped in surprise and looked embarrassed. “Sorry, got caught up. I’ll head down now.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“What was that you were listening to?” Alex seemed genuinely curious, not like he was about to make fun of her. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">She was hesitant to say anything. Alex was the most understanding of the boys, but also the most judgmental. She’s seen the way that he constantly roasts Reggie. “It’s a popular artist, that’s all. I can play you some of her music later. I think you’d really like some of it.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alex grinned. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">After practice, Julie invited Alex to come up to her room with the excuse of needing help picking out an outfit for school tomorrow. The boys looked skeptical but didn’t argue. Back up in Julie’s room, Julie was pacing back and forth. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Hey, why are you pacing? That’s my thing,” Alex complained. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Sorry, I’m just a little nervous. You know how Trevor Wilson got me into rock? Well, this girl got me into playing music,” Julie replied. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“I thought your mom got you into music?” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“She did, yeah, and we wrote all of our songs together, but I was hesitant to learn at first. Playing an instrument seemed so big and scary, something for fancy parties and rich people. But then Taylor Swift came on to the scene, sixteen years old, playing a guitar and making headlines. She had this big head of curly hair and I knew instantly that I wanted to be like her. Well, I guess by the time I was finally old enough to learn to play, Taylor was a little older and on her second or third album, but the point remains. She wasn’t old or fancy or snooty. If I wanted to be like her, I had to start right away.” Alex looked at her with a soft smile. “Sorry, I was rambling wasn’t I, it’s just that, oh there I go again, make it stop.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alex laughed. “No, it’s cute to see you all excited. You sound like Reggie when he talks about his country heroes.” Julie internally laughed. Oh buddy, you have no idea how on the nose you are with that one. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Anyway, this is one of her most recent hits. It’s called ‘ME!’ and she did it with Brendon Urie, a guy from a very popular band. He has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard. If I could ever get to meet him, I think I’d die. Sorry, rambling again, haha, ok.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Julie held her breath as the opening played from her laptop speakers. She was showing Alex the music video obviously, but she forgot that there was that weird little skit at the beginning. He seemed a little hesitant at first but seemed to get into it a little more when the chorus hit. Then came Brendon Urie, floating in a bright suit with the face of an angel. Alex leaned closer. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">As much as she wanted to keep quiet, Julie couldn’t help herself. “HEY KIDS, SPELLING IS FUN!” That was jarring enough for Alex to give her what was maybe THE MOST judgmental look of all time, but slowly turning back to the screen. He turned back at just the right moment, because Taylor and Brendon started to dance. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Kinda boring, but I bet we could learn that,” Alex mumbled. Julie smirked. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">When the song ended, Alex sat up and nodded. “I can see why you like her, but I’m not sure I get the obsession. Plus, you said she had curly hair, and that was clearly straight.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Well, she’s changed her hair a lot of times. This was just one song, though. Will you listen to one more? At the very least, the music video is great.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Julie knew that Alex wouldn’t recognize any of the celebs in the video, but she has a suspicion that he’ll really connect with this one. He hasn’t said anything explicitly, but she’s seen the way he dances with Dirty Candy and the way his face lights up when talking about Willie. Plus, it was the next video in YouTube’s autoplay. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“This one is called ‘You Need To Calm Down.’” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alex didn’t really react much to the video. He seemed to like this song a lot more, really getting into it, but that could just be from the drama of the opening scene. He smiled really wide when she put the cotton candy in the blender. But then came the second verse, and the entire set became rainbows. He sat up a little straighter. Then came the moment that Julie wanted him most to see, the mock wedding with the guy from “Modern Family.” Alex gasped, but still didn’t say anything. He sat perfectly still for the entire rest of the song. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“So, what did you think?” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Is she… Are they…” Alex trails off, voice dropping to a whisper. “Are they gay?” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Taylor isn’t but almost everyone else in that video is,” Julie answered in an equality delicate voice. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alex nods. She can see his eyes start to well up with tears. “Thanks for showing me this. I gotta… I gotta go, sorry bye.” And with that, Alex poofs out. She hopes those are good tears. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Alex was quieter than usual the next day, but he seemed a little lighter. She found out from Reggie that he was out almost the whole night, but he wouldn’t say where he went or what he did. She pulled him aside before rehearsal to check in. “Yeah, everything’s good. I went to visit Willie, to see if things had really gotten better for, uh, for people like me.” He won’t meet her eyes. </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Julie had never wanted to hug him so bad. She tried, but, as always, she went right through him. “Thank you for telling me. I promise I won’t say anything about it.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, well the guys know that I’m… you know, gay. But I’d love it if you didn’t mention the song.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“No problem.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Come on guys, let’s go,” Luke called. “You can’t be late for rehearsal two days in a row!”</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The two took their positions behind their instruments. As they set up, Reggie started talking. “I just think that we should utilize my banjo talents, that’s all. What could shake up a set more than a little banjo number?” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“Reggie, this is a ROCK band,” Luke sighed. “We don’t sing about trucks and horses, we sing about sticking it to the man and being awesome!” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Reggie looked bummed. That gave Julie an idea. “Reggie have you heard any modern country music? There’s this one artist that I think you’d really like. She completely dominated the country genre for YEARS.” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">Reggie smiled.”Yes! After practice?” </span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">“After practice,” Julie agreed. “Now let’s get to work.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Reggie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When rehearsal ended, Alex popped out pretty quickly, with the excuse that he had to go do something with Willie. That something was probably just watching him skateboard, but the group smiled and let him go easily. They were all really happy for him. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Knowing she’d need to distract Luke, Julie gave him a task. “Hey, Luke, I came up with this really good lyric last night, but I can’t think of anything else to go with it. Would you mind taking a look at it? See what you can come up with?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke smiled that perfect smile of his. “Yeah, Julie, that sounds great.” She scribbled it down in his journal, promising to be back soon to hear what he was able to write. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she looked up from Luke’s journal, Reggie was already gone. He must’ve already poofed to her room. Ugh, boundaries, dude! Julie ran to her room to find Reggie lying on her bed with his eyes closed. “Hey, what did we say about boundaries? What happened to being classy, huh?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Reggie shot up. “Right, right, sorry, sorry.” He patted the bed where he was before, smoothing out the wrinkles he left on the blanket. He ended up plopping himself down on the floor, sitting cross-legged. He patted his legs. “Alright, so am I about to be amazed by a new country legend or what?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie smiled. “Yes you are! She’s super talented and she absolutely crushes it on the banjo! Here check out this song, it’s like basically all banjo and it won two Grammys.” Reggie looked on excitedly as Julie pulled up the YouTube video. At first she set it to the music video, but at the last second changed her mind and decided to play the live version from the Grammys instead. “Trust me, this performance is better than the studio version.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ooh, I’m excited. If she’s got a banjo, does she also have a fiddle in her band?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I think so, yeah. Like I said, she was a country star.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wait, was? What happened to her? Is she like me?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Like you?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah. You know… dead.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“OH oh no she’s not.” Julie thought carefully about how she was going to say her next sentence. She didn’t want to outright LIE to Reggie but she also thought he might be crushed if he knew that she switched genres. She played it safe, saying, “she just stopped making country music. She actually completely disappeared for a few years and no one knew where she was or what she was up to.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Whoa, that’s crazy. I don’t think I could ever give up the spotlight like that. I love when the fans cheer me on, especially the pretty ones.” There was a moment of awkward silence. “Anyway, will you play the song?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The song starts off slow, the camera just focusing on Taylor. Julie doesn’t miss the goofy smile that breaks out on Reggie’s face as soon as he sees that banjo. “Duuuude look she doodled all over her banjo just like you doodled on your mic,” Reggie gasped. Julie nods, smiling. She couldn’t believe that he noticed that! </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Reggie practically SQUEALS when Taylor and her band do the coordinated lean at the end of the first chorus. He tries to hide it with a cough, but Julie knows what she heard. She laughs and goes, “fans call that ‘the mean lean.’ It’s pretty iconic.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Reggie nods. “Uh yeah! That was like perfectly in sync! Do you think Luke would wanna do a move like that with me? Oh, I bet Alex would, he loves to dance.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Shh, you’re gonna miss the song!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Right, right.” He could only stay quiet for so long, though. “Oh they just did another ‘mean lean!’” Julie made a surprised face at the use of the new phrase. “Why is everyone so surprised that I listen?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What? Never mind. FOCUS! This is the best part!”</span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wasn’t shocked when Reggie joined in with the clapping. She just hoped he would hear the line. “Someday, I’ll be, singing this AT THE GRAMMYS, and all you’re ever gonna be is mean!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Ohhhh she did not just do that!!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah she did,” Julie giggled. “Now do you see why she’s so iconic?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah I’m starting to get it! And you said she dominated for years?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“After this, I’m gonna play you one of her earliest hits. It’s still one of my favorites by her.” When the song ended, Julie pulled up “Picture to Burn.” This was classic old Taylor and classic country: an angry woman with a twang singing about boys with pick-up trucks.The music video for this one was legendary, too. Julie loved the over-the-top wrecking of this guy’s house. Julie can’t help but mouth along to the intro, “he let her drive the truck?! He NEVER let me drive the truck!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Reggie was clearly into this one. It was clearly a country song, but there were some definite punk elements thrown in here with her anger, her guitar, and her heavy makeup. Before long, he’s singing along with Taylor, mocking her twang, “you’re just another picture to burn!” He gasps at the bridge. “A BANJO SOLO! This girl just GETS me!” </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>The two jam out together for the end of the song, doing all sorts of dorky dance moves from their spots on the floor. Julie’s not even sure if what Reggie’s doing can be called dancing, but then again, the 90s were a weird time. Maybe that’s just what the cool kids did back then. Actually no, if the cool kids were doing it, then Reggie definitely wouldn’t be, she chuckled to herself. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the song ends, Reggie actually claps. “That was incredible, I see why she’s such a legend. That was a perfect country song.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I know, she’s so talented, it’s crazy.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Does she have any more recent stuff? That video looked pretty old, and you said it was one of her first ones.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, well, like I said she doesn’t really do this anymore. She did release one country song recently, if you wanna see that? It’s a wholesome song.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes! Show me more!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie pulls up the live performance of “Betty.” She has no idea how Reggie is gonna feel about this song. He’d probably love the harmonica intro, but she’s not so sure about the rest of it. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Predictably, Reggie gets an excited look when he hears the harmonica intro. “This performance seems a lot more simple than all of her other ones. There’s no dancers or anything.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, sometimes she just likes to do a casual acoustic number, just her and a guitar.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Why does she look so happy at the thought of someone telling her to go straight to hell? As someone who’s trying pretty hard to avoid it, I wouldn’t like that.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So in the studio version, Taylor curses, but she can’t drop a word like that on TV so she changed the lyrics to be more family friendly.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Which word? The b word? The s word?” Julie shakes her head no. “The f word??” <br/></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s the one.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Whoa. This chick is intense.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">On the second chorus, Reggie noticed a detail that he missed before. “She sings I’m only 17, I don’t know anything! I’m only 17 and I don’t know anything!” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie sighs,”yes, Reggie, we know.” He scoffs, but doesn’t fight back. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh I like how she’s getting soft here and then suddenly getting louder and—wait, did she say slept next to her?” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah Taylor said this song was from the male perspective. Instead of writing about her crappy boyfriends, she became him.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">So softly that Julie almost couldn’t hear it, Reggie said, “I bet Alex would like this song.” Hmm, she hadn’t even thought of that. But he seemed to enjoy the “Lover” album enough. Maybe it’s better to give him that and “1989” before showing him this. </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You know I get why she’s so iconic now. The first song was a banjo song with like a whole western set and she crushed it, and the second song was like an angry country rock hit and she killed that, and now this song is sweet and acoustic and she’s still so good! It’s just her and I’m totally into it. I feel like she’s singing right to me even though I’m not even in the crowd. That right there… that’s how good I want us to be.” </span>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie smiled softly. “Yeah, me too.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Here's chapter two! I may or may not have taken inspiration about Reggie listening to "Mean" from LadyBishop252</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Luke</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>tbh im not really sure where this fits into the timeline of the show? it's after julie learns about unsaid emily but they still can't touch her but also there's no flickering... make of that what you wanna lol <br/>(also i cannot believe how long this chapter is. this fic has gotten a little out of hand)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Julie finished up with Reggie, she went back down to the studio to check out what Luke wrote. Reggie poofed away with a wink, no explanation to where he was going. She figured he was just going to hang out with her dad, but she couldn’t shake that wink. Was that meant for her? Reggie didn’t like her like that, she knew that. Did he think that she and Luke had a thing? Has Luke said something? She didn’t have time to worry about that right now. She was just going to go write songs with him—that’s totally professional. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She pulled open the doors to the studio and found Luke sitting on the couch, scribbling in the journal, tongue out in concentration. “You think of anything good for a song?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, I’m working on it. Right now it seems a little too ballad-y for us. Like it would make a great piano ballad, but there’s nothing to jam out to.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Really? When I first wrote that, I was definitely thinking we’d do something more punk. Hmm, maybe that’s why it wasn’t working out. Can I see what you have so far?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke nodded. Julie took a seat next to him on the couch and grabbed the notebook from his hands. She could feel Luke looking at her anxiously as she read through his lyrics. “Luke, this is really good! It’s kinda sad, though. Really sad, actually. Are you feeling okay?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, yeah, was just trying something new. I’ve really only written one sad song before and, I don’t know, when I read the line you wrote down I just knew it had to be slow and soft.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie searched his face. “You’re an amazing songwriter, Luke. I would’ve never thought about doing that.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He scratched the back of his neck. “Well, it’s like you said: we make each other better.” He smiled that stupid perfect smile of his that made Julie’s heart skip. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She knew she was probably making the dumbest heart eyes at him right now, and blinked, trying to force herself out of this trance. “So a sad song. I don’t really have much experience writing those either. My mom always liked to keep music light.” Luke nodded. “But, I know what we can listen to for inspiration. I’m warning you now, this is like the saddest song of all time, but it also has the best lyrics of any song I’ve ever heard.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“The best lyrics? Don’t be so sure, you never heard some of the old Sunset Curve stuff.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie smiled and rolled her eyes. “Trust me. The best. You’ll understand soon. This is is also a piano ballad, so hopefully we can learn something with this.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She took out her phone and pulled up YouTube, finding Taylor’s performance of “All Too Well” from the Grammy awards. She was really nervous to show this to Luke. If he didn’t like it, she didn’t know what she was gonna do. Her crush might deflate, just like that. She took a deep breath and pressed play. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke was silent for the first part of it. On some of the notes where Taylor’s voice trembled, Luke shot her a look like “really? This is your favorite?” Julie ignored him. She didn’t wanna interrupt the song to tell him that the reason Taylor’s voice was trembling was because it was basically impossible for her, at the time, to sing this song without crying. She just hoped he would focus more on the lyrics than the actual performance… for now. Finally at “I might be okay, but I’m not fine at all” Luke nodded, finally starting to appreciate the lyricism. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In the second verse, Luke gets more into the music, leaning closer to the screen. At one point, he gets so close to Julie that he goes right through her. He moves away immediately, so Julie moves the phone closer to him. She’s seen this performance a million times. It was his turn to appreciate it. She’s kinda shocked that he still hasn’t said anything, but she doesn’t wanna be the one to break the silence. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The second chorus brings his first real reaction. “We’re dancing ‘round the kitchen in the refrigerator light,” Taylor sings. It was slight, but Julie could hear his sharp inhale, and she didn’t miss the quick glance he shot at her. Guess he remembers their first heart to heart, then. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie can’t help but imitate Taylor’s hair flips. This was a defining moment in Julie’s life, okay? Luke can’t help but crack a little smile, but quickly suppresses it. It feels wrong to be smiling during such an intense song. His mouth drops open a little when the bridge finally starts. Julie closes her eyes as she does every time she hears it, waiting for her favorite lines to hit her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You call me up again just to break me like a promise! So casually cruel in the name of being honest. I’m a crumpled up piece of paper lying here, because I remember it all, all, all… too well.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Julie opens her eyes, she can see tears streaming down Luke’s face. She knows better than to comment on them, but she’s glad that this song is moving him the way it always moves her. She pretends not to hear the sniffles that Luke makes during the end of the song. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It ends both too soon and not soon enough. Luke is facing away from her now and rubbing his eyes. She wishes she could hug him. She asks, “did you like it?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We’re never gonna be able to write a song that good. You were right—best lyrics of all time.” He sniffles. “Who was that? Is she new? I don’t recognize her.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, that’s Taylor Swift. She’s won like a ton of Grammys. She’s been around for like 10 or 15ish years? I was really little when her first album came out.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke nodded and finally turned around to face her. “She is the best songwriter I’ve ever heard. Does she only do sad heartbreak songs?”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No, no. Most of her songs are about love, both the good parts and the bad parts, but not all of them are. And all of her breakup songs aren’t sad either, some of them are angry or apologetic.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“An apologetic breakup song?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, kinda like your Emily song,” Julie replied before she could think about it. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to bring that up.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke’s back to not meeting her eyes again. “It’s not a breakup song. You of all people should know that.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well, there can be all kinds of breakups, it doesn’t have to be romantic. I mean Carrie basically dumped Flynn and I. I definitely listened to angsty Taylor Swift breakup songs to get over it.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Girls are weird.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’re weird,” Julie retorts back. She always been bad at comebacks. Thankfully, this makes Luke laugh, pulling him out of the funk he’s been in. “Do you wanna hear another song by her?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah. Does she have any rock stuff?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not really, but she does have some songs with a heavy bass line or drum line? I can play those?” At Luke’s encouragement, she pulls up the “reputation” album on her phone. She’s not sure which song from here to play. This album is home to some of the most loved and the most hated of Taylor’s songs. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As she’s looking for the perfect song, a sudden chill washes over her. She shivers, even though the studio isn’t that cold. “Are you cold?” Luke asks. “Here, take my jacket.” He slides off the hoodie he’s wearing and hands it to her. By some miracle, he was wearing one with sleeves, so it would actually help keep her warm. She still didn’t really understand why they could wear clothes, and why she could interact with those clothes, but couldn’t touch them. More mysteries of the ghost world. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She felt cozy in Luke’s hoodie. It smelled like boy deodorant and ok maybe a little bit of sweat. Julie didn’t care though, she was just happy to be in his hoodie. Plus, his hoodie being off meant that he was showing off his biceps. Oh no, she was staring wasn’t she! She looked up to see Luke smirking at her and she felt her entire face blush. Back to song choice.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The best choices were either “Getaway Car” or “King Of My Heart” but she didn’t know which would be less awkward to play. Instead, she held the phone out to Luke, asking him to pick. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What, no video this time?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I can search YouTube for a bootleg from her tour, but it’s probably gonna have a crying fan screaming so loudly that you can’t even hear Taylor.” It wasn’t worth digging through the Netflix movie just to find one song. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke hesitated, looking the song choices over. “We just did something sad, let’s do something happier,” he said. Julie tapped her phone and“King Of My Heart” started playing through the speakers. Luke leaned back on the couch and looked up at the ceiling, waiting to be impressed. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I thought you said heavy bass line and drums?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just wait,” she replied, smirking. The chorus hit and Luke smiled. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">By the second chorus, Julie had put her phone down on the couch between herself and Luke. She absolutely loved this song and it had killed her to not dance to it. She was impressed she held out as long as she did. </span>
</p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><br/>She knew she should be embarrassed by busting out these dance moves in front of Luke, but she just felt so comfortable around him. She knew that he wouldn’t think less of her. Julie and Flynn had spent HOURS coming up with this dance. Julie didn’t wanna brag, but the dance was pretty cool, and incredibly fun to do. She followed along with the music. “Salute to me, I’m your American queen, and you move to me like I’m a Motown beat, and we rule the kingdom inside my room!” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She caught herself singing to Luke, and quickly stopped. It was just out of habit, she told herself. She was singing to the only audience member she had. She and Flynn had sung this exact song to her tia before; it wasn’t weird at all. But if it wasn’t weird, then why did she stop? Ugh he would totally know something was up. Breaking from her routine, she added some spins so she wouldn’t have to look at him. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Closing her eyes so she wouldn’t have to look at him, Julie mouthed the words to the bridge. As much as she wanted to dance, she forced herself to stay still, pretended to be too caught up in the lyrics to even move. “Is this the end of all the endings? My broken bones are mending, with all these we’re spending… Up on the roof with a school crush! Drinking beer out of plastic cups. Say you fancy me not fancy stuff, baby all at once this is enough!”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Julie opened her eyes again, Luke was staring at her. The only word she could think to describe his stare was wonderstruck. Here she was, dancing around like a dork in his hoodie, and he was looking at her like that. Ugh, why did she have a massive crush on a guy who was dead! Nick was right there, and finally flirting with her, but now all she could think about was Luke. It wasn’t fair. She picked up the choreography again with much less enthusiasm than before. She hoped Luke wouldn’t notice. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That was really good,” Luke said after the song finished. Her phone started to autoplay the next track, so she had a good excuse for running over. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She forced herself to smile. “Yeah, she’s won like ten Grammys and like a zillion other awards. She’s kinda like my hero. She’s what really got me into music.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke looked hurt. “I thought my music did…” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Your songs, which are technically Trevor Wilson’s songs, got me into ROCK. Taylor is what made me first learn piano.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Whoa, so she’s a pretty big deal then. Can I hear your favorite song by her?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No,” Julie replied. That was way too fast of a reply, wayyyyy too fast. “Sorry, I just… I don’t think you’d like it and it’s kinda cheesy and not at all what you’d think my favorite song is and” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey,” Luke interrupts. “It’s okay, you don’t have to tell me. Can I listen to some more of her songs, I really like what I’ve heard so far.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, I can make you a playlist on my old iPod! I never really use that anymore anyway, so you can have it.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“iPod?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Like a fancy portable music player.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, so a walkman?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“NO. Not a walkman. iPods are actually cool.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hey, Walkmans are cool,” Luke replied defensively. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Maybe 25 years ago. Things are a little different now.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke sighed. “Yeah, no kidding. But you’ll make me a playlist? Of songs that you think I’d like? Kinda like a mixtape?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie had no idea where he was going with this or why he looked so happy. Maybe he was just really into Taylor’s music? “Yeah I’ll make you a playlist. Not really sure if I can compare that to a mixtape though.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Whatever, I’ll take it.” Luke still had a frustratingly smug look on his face.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The two walked back to Julie’s room together. She sat on her bed and carefully selected some of Taylor’s biggest hits and her best lyrics, making sure there was nothing that sounded too country. She put her iPod down on her bed so Luke could pick it up and went to go get a pair of headphones. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You’ll need these to get any sound out of it.” She showed him how to plug them in and he grinned. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Thanks, Julie. I’m gonna listen to these right now. Who knows, maybe they’ll inspire me to finish that song.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wait! Before you go, can I show you a song that’s not on the playlist? It’s not my favorite, and it’s like only okay lyrically, but it’s so much fun to sing. It’s a good revenge song. I like to sing it about Carrie, so, I don’t know, maybe it’ll help you feel better about Bobby.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Okay, cool, yeah, lemme hear it.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She doesn’t even bother looking for a video for it, just pulling up the album and plugging her phone in to the speaker in her room. “Before I play it, you gotta stand up. This is a dancing song.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Julie, I don’t dance.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Then how do you explain—“ wait, that dance sequence was all in her head. He didn’t actually show up to school with his hair slicked back just to woo her. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Explain what?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nothing! Explain nothing because OBVIOUSLY you don’t dance and we’ve never danced together before. Um… but that will change because this is a song you have to rage too.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Rage? I thought you said she didn’t have any rock songs?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She doesn’t. This is clearly a pop song, but I promise that it goes hard.” Luke looked confused at the phrase “goes hard” but Julie started “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” before he could ask. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“It was so nice throwing big parties, jump into the pool from the balcony, everyone swimming in a champagne sea,” Julie sang. She was trying to be extra passionate, hoping to encourage Luke to break out of his shell a little. She had seen how into performing he gets, she wants some of that energy here. “Okay, it’s time for the chorus. Jump around, have fun with it!” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She danced around her room, screaming the lyrics loudly. She didn’t even care if her family heard her. Luke smiled fondly at her dancing. She shot him an expectant look and finally, finally, he started to dance a little bit. He was just swaying side to side, but Julie counted it as a win. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">In the middle of the second chorus, her door opened. Her little brother Carlos came rushing in, shouting “I love this song!” He joined her in her silly dancing. You know what, if Luke wouldn’t dance with her, this was a fine substitution for a song like this. The two of them had listened to this song so many times that they basically had choreography for it. It wasn’t like they sat around and intentionally made a dance, but they had just done the same exact moves in the same exact places so many times that it became routine. Carlos being here meant she couldn’t sing to Luke anymore, though. She still tried to catch his eye casually whenever she could. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was most dreading Luke’s reaction to the end of the bridge. As always, she and Carlos sang to each other. “And heeeeere’s to you, ‘cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do… AHAHAHAHA I CAN’T EVEN SAY IT WITH A STRAIGHT FACE!” They looked up at the sound of a third voice and found her dad Ray in her doorway, smiling wide. Julie figured he was just happy to see his kids getting along. Together they finished out the song, Julie singing the lead, the boys doing the background vocals, just like they always did in the car on the way to school.Julie was a little embarrassed at how often she listened to this song, but it was just so much fun. Sure it wasn’t great lyrically, and no one would ever call it a masterpiece, but sometimes being fun was enough to make a song worth listening to. Dirty Candy was really popular and their songs are tooth-rotting bubblegum pop. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">At the closing notes, Ray took a bow. “Wonderful performance as always. Let’s celebrate with dinner. Come on down, help me set the table.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Sure, be down in a sec. Lemme just shut everything down here.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ray nodded and left, Carlos following him out. That just left Julie and Luke in the room. “Did you like it?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Definitely not as good as the other songs,” Luke started. Julie must’ve made a sad face because he quickly followed up with, “but it did make me feel better about the Bobby situation, so thanks.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie smiled. “Cool. None of the other songs on the playlist are like that. I just know that that song always makes me feel better. I’ve listened to it, like, a lot.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke chuckled. “Yeah I can tell. You had backup dancers and everything.” He smiled a softer, more wistful smile. “It’s nice that you get along so well with your family.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah I really lucked out… Speaking of, I need to head down for dinner.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, totally. I’ll go check out the playlist. See ya, Julie.” With that, he poofed out. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie flopped back on her bed, thoughts racing. She took a deep breath. That was when she realized she was still wearing Luke’s hoodie. Smiling to herself, she pulled the hoodie tight around her. Then she got up and went downstairs for dinner, wondering if either her dad or brother would notice the newest addition to her wardrobe. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I'm thinking of doing a spinoff one-shot of Alex and Willie listening to Taylor? Like Alex is like "hey have you ever heard of taylor swift" and willie is like "uh..... yes? how do YOU know her?" and then fluff</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Julie</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie walked into the studio and was surprised to only find Alex. “Hey, what’s going on? Usually you’re the missing one?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Luke has been working on this song all day. He took off somewhere to gather inspiration, whatever that means, and I think Reggie is messing with your brother again.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Okay… so why do you look so sad?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Things are going really well between Willie and I, but I just… I know my parents would be so disappointed in me. I know that I shouldn’t really care about their opinion, but sometimes it’s hard to shake off their words you know?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Have you tried literally shaking them off? That’s what I do.” An idea was forming. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can’t…? Okay.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes, you can! Come here, stand up.” Alex stood and looked at her expectantly. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We just gotta get loose. Copy me.” She shook her whole body, not in a cute way, but as if she was literally trying to shake all of the negative thoughts away. She wiggled her arms and shook her head and jumped up and down. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Julie, that was the dorkiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I lived with REGGIE.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Stop being mean and just do it.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Alex shook himself unenthusiastically, just a shimmy of his shoulders and some jazz hands. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“No! Throw yourself into! Here, maybe some music will help.” She pulled up “Shake It Off,” smiling at the opening notes of the drum set. She talked over the first couple of lines. “This song is all about loving yourself and not caring about the haters. The entire music video is just Taylor dancing awkwardly as a bunch of professional dancers do really cool moves around her. So be Taylor, let yourself have fun. I can’t fix your parents or your feelings, but I promise this will help fix your mood.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Taylor? Like as in Swift?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yes! As in Swift! This is one of her all-time BIGGEST hits! It has like billions of views on YouTube.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally, Alex smiled. “Okay, I’ll try it.” He started to actually dance a little, something that made Julie so happy. She had seen how much he loved to dance before. Alex didn’t miss a beat by the time time the chorus rolled around. Julie knew that there was no way that he could’ve known Taylor’s choreography to this song, but he still almost perfectly replicated it. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">By the second verse, Alex was looking a lot more relaxed. Julie didn’t know if it was the song or the dancing that cheered him up, but she was glad to see that her plan was working. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Alex didn’t really know how to react when Taylor got the bridge. The tune kinda completely changes, but Julie wasn’t gonna leave him hanging. She just started singing to him. “Just think while you’ve been getting down about the liars and the dirty dirty cheats of the world, you could’ve been getting down to THIS! SICK! BEAT!” She did the three little claps with some sass, and Alex laughed. She ran to the other side of the room and jumped on the couch. She made it just time. “And to the fella over there, with the hella good hair, won’t you come on over baby, we can shake, shake, shake.” Alex played the part getting closer and closer until he was right in front of her. When Taylor came back in with her power note, Julie jumped right through him. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Alex threw his head back and laughed before dancing again. When the song ended, the two of them were sweaty and out of breath. Of course, that was the moment that the guys decided to poof back in. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“What uh… what happened here?” Luke asked. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Alex and I were just vibing,” Julie replied. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Luke and Reggie looked at each other confused. “Alex, how come you don’t look confused?” Reggie asked. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Willie taught me that one too. It’s nice to be the smart one of the group.” </span><br/><br/>“OKAY,” Julie yelled before the boys could start fighting. “Why are you guys both back here?”</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh, so I figured out this killer little guitar riff but I wanted to hear it so I grabbed Reggie. Figured we could play it together, it’s a back and forth thing.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But whatever you were doing looks way more fun,” Reggie quickly chimed in. Luke punched him on the arm, but Reggie didn’t even react. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We were just jamming out to Taylor Swift. She’s a singer that lifers are super into these days,” Alex said. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, I know who Taylor Swift is. She’s the country legend that Julie showed me the other day after band practice.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nooooo, Taylor Swift is the Grammy winning artists with some of the best lyrics I’ve ever heard.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Well that can’t be right because Taylor is a pop star.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All three turn to look at Julie. Luke looks annoyed, Alex looks intrigued, Reggie just looks confused. “The good news is, you guys are all right. Taylor Swift IS a pop star, and a country legend, and a good songwriter.” The three boys just kept staring. “She’s put out eight albums, the first four were country, the next three were pop, and the most recent one is kinda indie-ish. All the different Taylors you guys know? They’re all the same girl.”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All three of them look absolutely mind-blown. “Lemme get this straight,” Alex starts. “Instead of just playing a Taylor song for us, you pulled each of us aside separately to show us different aspects of her music without telling us that the others also knew who she was.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I just didn’t know if there was a song all three of you guys would like! You like more pop music and Reggie likes country and Luke is all rock n roll and angst. And she’s so important to me, I couldn’t risk you guys not liking her.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Reggie laughed. “Luke is NOT all rock n roll and angst. He tries to be, but we’ve heard him singing ABBA in the shower more times than I count.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Dude! Not cool,” Luke replied angrily. “They’re lying, he’s just joking. I don’t like disco and I definitely don’t like ABBA.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Ignoring him, Julie took a deep breath and sighed. “I can prove to you it’s all the same girl. Lemme get my laptop, it’ll be better on a big screen.” She knew there was one way to prove that it was all the same person: playing her favorite song. It wasn’t pure country or pure pop, but a perfect blend of the two. It also had some of Julie’s favorite lyrics of all time—happy lyrics, too. She used to listen to it all the time, head full of dreams. She hadn't been able to listen to it since her mom passed away. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wanted to show them a video of her singing the song live. She loved the song the first moment she heard it, but it wasn’t until she saw it live that it became her favorite song. Julie was six or seven when she got to go to the “Speak Now” tour. “Fearless” had been her favorite album for so long, that when “Speak Now” came out, her parents instantly bought it for her. One of Julie’s earliest memories is singing along to “You Belong With Me” with her mom in her room using hairbrushes as microphones. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As excited as she was to hear “You Belong With Me” live, nothing could have prepared her for hearing “Long Live.” Julie had started playing instruments already, but it was in that moment that she knew that she wanted to be a performer. It wasn’t enough to just write songs, she wanted to be on the stage, making fans as happy as Taylor was, speaking to thousands of people but making everyone feel like she’s speaking directly to each of them. Okay, so maybe Julie’s second grade brain didn’t quite go that deep, but she knew it was a magical moment in her life. She remembered feeling special. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was so anxious to show the boys this song. Julie knew she was probably gonna cry. She was always so overcome with a mixture of nostalgia and hope when she listened to this song, but now she had grief thrown into that mix. She didn’t say a word walking back into the studio, just opened up her laptop and pulled up YouTube. There was an HD version as the top suggestion. Perfect. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She pressed play and quickly went to stand behind the boys. She didn’t want them to see her cry. Taylor spoke before the song started and Julie forgot how much she liked those little speeches. She’d have to steal that for the band’s next performance. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie held her breath when Taylor sang the opening line. “I said remember this moment, in the back of my mind.” If only Taylor knew the way she’d cling to that memory forever. “…The crowds and stands went wild.” Julie made the mistake of looking at the screen, seeing Taylor’s face light up. Julie would do anything to have a crowd cheer like that.</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Man, I wish we could get a crowd to cheer like that,” Luke said as if he could read her thoughts. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The boys were mostly silent. Julie was shocked, she was expecting Alex or Reggie to comment, but they seemed enchanted by the performance. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And bring on all the pretenders. One day, we will be remembered.” She heard three shaky inhales to that line. Julie was confused. Why that lyric? OH. Because they weren’t remembered. Because there was a pretender and he stole their legacy. Maybe she should’ve thought this through. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The room stayed mostly silent. The only thing that could be heard was Taylor’s voice. Julie was too lost in the lyrics and her memories to remember what was coming next. “‘Cause for one moment a band of thieves in ripped up jeans got to ruuuuuule the woooooorld!” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">This time it was Reggie who spoke. “That’s how I felt when we did that soundtrack at the Orpheum.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We were gonna be legends,” Alex whispered, echoing Luke’s words from all those years ago. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie’s favorite part was coming up. She couldn’t bring herself to sing the words out loud (it was a miracle she hadn’t cried yet) but she did let herself start mouthing lyrics, nice and quiet so she didn’t attract attention. “Long live all the mountains we moved, I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you!”</span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Because she hated herself, Julie shifted her angle so she could have a clear view of Taylor for the bridge. There was just something so magical about a Taylor Swift bridge. She watched as Taylor spun around with that iconic sparkly guitar, the very same one that inspired Julie to learn an instrument. She remembered wanting to learn to play guitar like Taylor, but the six-string was far too big for her hands. The piano wasn’t much better, but she could at least press the keys. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Someone sniffled extra loud when Taylor thanked the audience and showed off her band, but Julie didn’t know who. In all honestly, it could’ve been Julie herself. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Will you take a moment, and promise me this?” Julie whispered with the music. She looked at the three boys in front of her and started to cry, tears silently streaming down her face. “That you’ll stand by me forever, but” she broke off, inhaling shakily. “Fate should step in, and force us into a goodbye…” She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t. She buried her face in her hands. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Taylor kept singing. “When they point to the pictures, please tell em my name! Tell em how the crowds. Went. Wild! Tell em how I hope. They. Shine!” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julied joined in for her favorite part of the song. “Long live the walls we crashed through, I had the time of my life… with YOU!” She could feel someone staring at her, probably Luke, but Julie was busy staring at the floor. She didn’t wanna think about losing her mom, potentially losing the boys. This song had once been about Julie but somewhere along the way it became about the people she loved. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When the song finished she wasn’t surprised to see Alex crying and Reggie teary-eyed. What she was surprised to see was Luke, eyes and face completely dry, an unreadable look on his face. He’s the first to break the spell. “You thought that I wouldn’t like that song?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That’s what he was hung up on? “I wasn’t sure. It’s a little country, isn’t it?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Julie that song was really good. I can see why you love it, and her, so much. I just hope… I just hope you’ll do what the bridge says. When they point to the pictures, please tell them our names.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“O-of course. Always. The phantoms will go down in history as the best bandmates a girl could have. Don’t tell Flynn I said that.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That got a laugh out of all three boys. “The mood in here is so depressing, can we lighten it up?” Reggie asked. “Maybe play one of her banjo songs?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The boys groaned, complaining that they didn’t wanna hear a banjo. </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie smirked. “I think I know what song to play next. It’s one of her biggest hits. Anyone got a hairbrush?” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Julie ignored their confused faces as she pulled up “You Belong With Me.” </span>
</p>
<p class="p2"> </p>
<p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“She won a Grammy for this album when she was only twenty, by the way. Lots of Grammys for this, actually. The album itself came out when she was eighteen.” The boys looked impressed. “Yeah, it’s pretty cool. So I expect to see you appreciate it accordingly.” She grinned evilly. “Now who is ready to dance?” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that's a wrap! I realize that I didn't have anyone listen to anything from "Fearless" which is a crime, but I tried to make up for it at the very end lol. I'm also making this a series, leaving it open-ended. I mentioned in the last chapter's notes that I'm thinking of doing a Willex spin-off, but we'll see what happens. </p>
<p>Thanks so much for reading and all of the super nice comments! Hope you liked the ending &lt;3</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I saw a chance to write about taylor swift and i TOOK IT. Here's the post that inspired this: https://taylorslistofexlovers.tumblr.com/post/630154029175013376/head-canon-that-julie-introduces-all-the-boys-to</p><p>Text from post: “Head canon that Julie introduces all the boys to taylor Swift separately. So for alex she plays the bubblegum pop hits like ME! and gorgeous and obvi the two of them learn the little ME! dance that Taylor and Brendon do. For Reggie, she plays some of her old yeehaw stuff like picture to burn and our song—he definitely sings them in the same fake twang that Taylor sang them in. She’s most nervous about showing Taylor to luke, Mr rock n roll over here, so she hopes that he’ll appreciate her lyricism and shows him all too well and laughs as he tries not to cry. But then she plays cruel summer and he instantly is obsessed. The boys have no idea that all these new songs that they’re raving about are by the same artist"</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>